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HU Credits:
3
Degree/Cycle:
1st degree (Bachelor)
Responsible Department:
Atmospheric Sciences
Semester:
2nd Semester
Teaching Languages:
English
Campus:
E. Safra
Course/Module Coordinator:
Dr. Nathan Steiger
Coordinator Office Hours:
By appointment
Teaching Staff:
Dr. Nathan Steiger
Course/Module description:
This course will cover the science of anthropogenic climate change and global warming. We will focus on the fundamental processes that drive global warming and on the evidence for past and present climate change. This course will examine the climate impacts of global warming and the science behind potential mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Course/Module aims:
Understanding the science of global warming and its associated climate impacts
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Understand and clearly articulate: (1) the history of the science of global warming, (2) the greenhouse effect, (3) climate forcings and feedbacks, (4) the carbon cycle, (5) how climate models work, (6) the nature of projections of future climate, (7) climate change impacts, mitigation, and adaptation
Attendance requirements(%):
None
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:
This is a discussion-based and problem solving-based class. In addition to lecture time, class time will also be spent solving problems in small groups and discussing the material in class. Students will also make significant use of simple climate models.
Course/Module Content:
History of climate science and global warming
Properties of Earth's atmosphere and oceans
Paleoclimatic context for the present
The instrumental climate record
The greenhouse effect: blackbody radiation, simple models of Earth's radiation balance, physics of greenhouse gases
Large-scale features of weather and climate
Climate forcings and feedbacks
The carbon cycle and perturbations to it
Climate models: history and design, hierarchy of models, model verification and validation, probabilistic projections of future climate
Global warming impacts
Geoengineering
Potential global warming mitigation and adaptation strategies
Required Reading:
'Atmosphere, Clouds, and Climate' (David Randall); 'Climate and the Oceans' (Geoffrey Vallis); 'The Global Carbon Cycle' (David Archer); 'Beyond Global Warming' (Syukuro Manabe)
Additional Reading Material:
Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 10 %
Project work 30 %
Assignments 40 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 20 %
Other 0 %
Additional information:
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